Improved filling for fire-proof safes and chests



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE WILLIAM ALFOED, OE PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOE TO HIMSELF AND JAMES H. CHAMBERS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVED FILLING FOR FIRE-PROOF SAFES AND CHESTS.

I Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 85,893, dated January 151, 1869.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM ALFORD, of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an Improved Lining or Filling for Fire-Proof Safes or Apartments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same. My invention consists in the application of paper or other fibrous pulp to the lining or filling of fire-proof safes or apartments in place of the comparatively costly and heavy materials heretofore used for that purpose, and it may be applied in various manners, either by placing it Within or upon the walls of the safe or apartment.

The pulp can be used between the walls in the form of a dry powder, which is tightly compressed in any suitable manner, so as to form a solid and compact mass, or it may be applied in the form of sheets or layers, or in blocks. If in the latter form, the blocks should be previously subjected to the action of a hydraulic press, or to some equivalent process, for the purpose of forming then into a dense and compact mass. The material, when thus treated and tightly packed within the walls of the safe or apartment, presents a dense body, almost entirely impervious to air, and at the same time a poor conductor of heat.

While in these respects my improved linin g is fully as efficient as or more efficient than any of the various materials at present used for the purpose, it has the great advantages of lightness and economy. The first-naTHeH X advantage is of especial importance with respect to portable safes and strong boxes.

The efficiency of my improved lining may, in some cases, be increased by impregnating or mixing it with alum or other incombustible substance.

The economy of the lining and the facility with which it may be applied, as compared with any other of. the substances or composi tions at present employed for the purpose, will be evident.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The application of paper or other fibrous pulp as a lining or filling for fire-proof safes or apartments.

two subscribing witnesses.

WM. ALFORD.

Witnesses:

JOHN WHITE, HARRY SMITH. 

